On this episode, Josh, Chris, and Mark unpack their top five back-to-school trends shaping K-12 technology in 2025. Topics include shifting budgets and funding pressures, rising costs for materials and software, widespread school cell phone policies and bell-to-bell enforcement, the rapid expansion of AI tools in classrooms (including Notebook LM and Gemini), and growing school safety technology demands. The episode also highlights practical use cases for Notebook LM (flashcards, handbook summarization) and discusses vendor and licensing concerns. Our new Swag Store is OPEN - Buy some swag (tech dept gift boxes, shirts, hoodies...)!!! Josh talking about schools banning phones - The New York Times Notebook LM Flash Cards   00:00:00-Intro 00:01:41-School Year Kickoff 00:02:18-New Notebook LM Features 00:05:03-AI’s Role in Education 00:12:47-Top 5 Trending Topics in Education -------------------- NTP Managed Methods Arista VIZOR Fortinet -------------------- Join the K12TechPro Community (exclusively for K12 Tech professionals) Buy some swag (tech dept gift boxes, shirts, hoodies...)!!! Email us at k12techtalk@gmail.com OR our "professional" email addy is info@k12techtalkpodcast.com Call us at 314-329-0363 X @k12techtalkpod Facebook Visit our LinkedIn Music by Colt Ball Disclaimer: The views and work done by Josh, Chris, and Mark are solely their own and do not reflect the opinions or positions of sponsors or any respective employers or organizations associated with the guys. K12 Tech Talk itself does not endorse or validate the ideas, views, or statements expressed by Josh, Chris, and Mark's individual views and opinions are not representative of K12 Tech Talk. Furthermore, any references or mention of products, services, organizations, or individuals on K12 Tech Talk should not be considered as endorsements related to any employer or organization associated with the guys.